Warwickshire's most beautiful views
The best beauty spots, vistas and Instagram-worthy landscapes in Warwickshire.
Warwickshire has a habit of surprising people. Between the Shakespeare pilgrims and the castle visitors, there is a county of dramatic landscapes. Hilltop panoramas spanning multiple counties, ancient escarpments where Civil War battles were fought, flood meadows glowing golden in late summer, and ridgelines from which, on a clear day, the Malvern Hills appear on the horizon forty miles away. These are the views that stop you in your tracks. All free. All worth the effort.
1. Burton Dassett Hills Country Park
Near Fenny Compton, south Warwickshire
Few places in the Midlands deliver a view quite like this. Burton Dassett rises from the surrounding plain on rolling ironstone hills - ancient Jurassic seabed, if you can believe it - to over 200 metres, with open 360-degree panoramas across southern Warwickshire and beyond. The 15th century Beacon Tower crowns the summit, likely built by the Lord of the Manor and now beautifully restored. The light here at golden hour is extraordinary - the ironstone glows amber and the sky opens up in every direction. Come in the morning for photographers' light, come at dusk for something unforgettable.
Free entry. Parking charges apply.
2. Edge Hill Escarpment
Near Ratley, south Warwickshire
Edge Hill is the most north-easterly outcrop of the Cotswolds - a long, wooded ridge rising to 700 feet above sea level and looking out across the Warwickshire plain below. This is where the first pitched battle of the English Civil War was fought in October 1642, and standing on the escarpment you can see why it was chosen: the views are immense. On a clear day the Malvern Hills are visible 40 miles away; on a glorious day the sense of standing at the edge of something vast is almost vertiginous. The ridge is accessible via public footpath, with the National Trust's Upton House providing a useful starting point for walks along the escarpment edge.
Free to walk. Parking at Upton House (charges apply for non-NT members and the car park only open during National Trust Upton House opening hours).
3. Radway Meadows and Edge Hill
Near Kineton, south Warwickshire
Nearby, Radway sits in the northern fringe of the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, tucked beneath the Edge Hill escarpment. From the meadows and the lanes above the village the views back across the ironstone countryside - rolling, uncrowded and profoundly peaceful - are as good as anything the Cotswolds themselves offer, without the crowds. The juxtaposition of Civil War landscape, ancient church, ironstone village and sweeping open farmland makes this one of the most evocative corners of the county. The Centenary Way passes close by for those who want to walk in properly.
Free to visit.
4. Hartshill Hayes Country Park
Near Nuneaton, north Warwickshire
Two areas of ancient hilly woodland make up most of this delightful country park, renowned for its glorious bluebell displays in spring and its spectacular panoramic views across four counties on a clear day. The park covers woodland and open hilltop grassland, and in spring the bluebells are simply magnificent. The views here feel wilder and less visited than those further south - there is something quietly magnificent about standing on a ridge with the counties of the English Midlands spreading out below you in every direction. Bring a camera and allow time to linger.
Free entry. Parking charges apply.
5. Welcombe Hills and Clopton Park
Stratford-upon-Avon
A short walk from Stratford town centre
Most people come to Stratford to visit Shakespeare's birthplace. Those in the know walk out of town and climb the Welcombe Hills - 60 hectares of flower-rich grassland and mature woodland with sweeping views back over the town, the spire of Holy Trinity Church, the River Avon and the surrounding Warwickshire countryside. The Victorian Obelisk, erected in 1876 by the Philips family in memory of one of Manchester's first MPs, marks the high point and makes for a striking focal point in any photograph. Accessible directly from Stratford town centre without a car.
Free entry.
6. Abbey Fields and Kenilworth Castle Ruins
Kenilworth
From Abbey Fields, the public park in the heart of Kenilworth, the views towards the castle ruins across the park are quintessentially English - and on the right morning, the castle rising above the tree line with mist on the water below it, genuinely breathtaking. The park occupies the site of the medieval Kenilworth Abbey and the ruins of the ancient gatehouse add another layer of history to the scene. This is a free, fully accessible beauty spot that most visitors walk past on their way to somewhere else. Don't. Take time to linger.
Added bonus - the castle itself rewards a closer approach too. From the south, a path leads along the old causeway that once served as the dam holding back the great medieval mere - the vast lake that made Kenilworth one of the most formidable fortresses in England, and which was drained by parliamentary order in the mid-17th century. The flat fields that stretch away from the causeway today are all that remain of it, but walking the path with the castle walls rising ahead of you still gives a powerful sense of what it meant to approach Kenilworth in its heyday. Entry to the castle is charged, but the approach along the causeway is free.
Free to view externally. Entry charges apply to the castle itself.
7. Warwick Castle from the River Avon
Warwick
It should be on every photographer's list. The view of Warwick Castle from the Mill Street bridge or the riverside path along the Avon is one of the most dramatically composed medieval views in England - the full length of the curtain wall and towers reflected in the river, with the town rising behind. Entry to the castle itself is ticketed, but the riverside view is entirely free and entirely spectacular. Early morning in mist, or late afternoon in low autumn light, this view becomes something else altogether.
Free to view from the riverside.
8. Charlecote Park and the River Dene
Charlecote, near Wellesbourne
The view across the deer parkland at Charlecote towards the grand Elizabethan house, with the River Dene in the foreground and a herd of fallow deer grazing the slopes, is the kind of scene that makes Warwickshire feel like a painting. The parkland is National Trust land; entrance to the house and gardens is ticketed, but the public footpath through the park allows anyone to experience the deer parkland and the riverside views free of charge. Shakespeare is said to have been caught poaching deer here as a young man - an excellent story, and even if we can’t say for sure it’s true, it’s a lovely thought to think you’re walking on the same land he most likely walked on too.
Free to walk via public footpath through the parkland.
9. Napton-on-the-Hill
Near Southam, south Warwickshire
One of Warwickshire's best-kept secrets and one of its most photographed villages. Napton sits on an isolated hill rising from the flat canal country around it, crowned by a restored 18th century windmill (now a private dwelling) and the medieval church of St Lawrence - the two silhouetted together against an open sky is a view that photographers return to again and again. On a fine day seven counties are reportedly visible from the hilltop. Below, the Grand Union and Oxford canals wind around the foot of the hill in great lazy curves, with narrowboats negotiating the famous flight of locks. Old boatmen used the windmill as their landmark. Walk up through the village for the view, then follow the towpath for the most beautiful return route imaginable.
Free to visit.
10. Draycote Water
Near Rugby
Not every great view in Warwickshire involves hills and horizon lines. Draycote Water offers something different - a vast open reservoir with big skies, wide water and a quality of light that shifts constantly with the weather and the seasons. The perimeter walk of just over five miles takes you around the full sweep of the reservoir with uninterrupted views across the water in every direction; on a still morning the reflections are extraordinary, and in winter the wildfowl arrive in numbers that draw birdwatchers from across the region. It is one of those places that feels genuinely spacious in a county of lanes and hedgerows - and one of the best spots in Warwickshire to watch a sunset.
Free to walk. Parking charges apply.
Instagram worthy vistas
Warwickshire’s beauty is in the rolling hills, the unexpected viewpoints, and the places where the land quietly opens up around you. While we say they are all Instagram worthy, the real reward is pausing, looking and taking in the glorious English countryside views. The Instagram image is just to remind you of that peace and tranquility.
Pack a coffee, time it for golden hour, and you’ll find that some of the best views in the county are also the simplest.
Want to know more about the landmarks that dot this beautiful landscape (and perhaps grab another photo opportunity). Read about landmarks of Warwickshire.